Furcated garment

ABSTRACT

Tubular furcated garments having a unitary, seamless construction are knitted continuously on raschel warp knitting machines. If desired, the garments may be knitted with laid-in patterns that are different in the body portion from the laid-in patterns of the furcated portions of the garment.

I United States Patent 1191 11 1 3,776,002 Howard 7 *Dec. 4, 1973 FURCATED GARMENT 3,089,322 5 1963 Bruce et al. 66/86 x Inventor: Robert C. Howard, y g Pa. 3,232,079 2/1966 Levme et a1. 66/154 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [73] Ass1gnee: 'WyOmISSIIIg Corporation, West Readin Pa 925,754 5/1963 Great Britain 66/154 1,036,246 7/ 1966 Great Britain 66/178 Notice: The portion of the t f hi 1,059,576 2/1967 Great Britain............ 66/178 patent Subsequent to June 4 990 1,072,715 6/1967 Great Britain, 66/178 has been disclaimed 1,094,855 12/1960 Germany 66/154 22 Filed: Nov. 9, 1967 OTHER PUBLICATIONS 1 Morehouse, New Cocker Fashion Masters Raschel [21] Appl 681318 for Shaped Panty Hose, Leotards, etc., Knitted Outer Times, Vol. 36, No. 41, Oct. 2,1967. 52 us. c1. 66/87, 66/177 Darlington, m p Knit Stockings and 51 D04b 23/02 g The Hosiery Trade Journal, [58] Field of Search 66/86, 88, 177, 176, 67, p g 74 t9 2- Primary Examiner-Ronald Feldbaum [56] References Cited AttorneyRichard 0. Church UNITED STATES PATENTS 459,866 9/1891 Clewley 66/170 [57] ABSTRACT 606,719 7/1898 Hill 66/ 170 Tubular furcated gannents having a unitary, seamless 1,139,342 5/1915 Clewley 66/ 170 construction are knitted continuously on raschel warp 1,078,914 11/1913 Gabel 66/87 knitting machines. If desired, the garments may be 1,355,033 4/1932 SPiers 1 n 66/37 knitted with laid-in patterns that are different in the fi t body portion from the laid-in patterns of the furcated 3,025,444 3 1962 Myska 66 154 UX Pomons of the m 3,035,426 5/1962 MacQueen 66/154 x 1 Claim, 3 Drawing fi ures United States Patent [91 In] 3,776,002 Howard L45] *Dec. 4, 1973 PATENTEU DEC 41975 SHEET 1 OF 2 1 FURCATED GARMENT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to furcated tubular knit garments. More particularly this invention relates to furcated tubular knit garments that are of a unitary seamless construction and methods for their manufacture.

2. Description of the Prior Art By way of definition, the term furcated tubular garments refers to garments that have a main tubular section and one or more tubular furcations attached thereto. For example, in the case of pants or panty hose, those garments have a body portion defined by the waist, seat, and crotch from which depend the two leg portions. Similarly, a sweater or shirt may be considered a trifurcated garment in the sense that three tubular portions, that is two arms and a tubular chest portion are joined together into a single tube or body portion extending between the shoulders and the neck.

The terms seamless and unitary structure are used to define the tubular knit goods of this invention in which there are no seams running lengthwise along any of the tubular sections nor are there seams to adjoin the various tubular sections to the body portion. Accordingly, it will be understood that even though the ends of a tubular garment may be sewn together, such as to form foot portions for panty hose, these garments will still be referred to herein as seamless.

In the manufacture of furcated tubular knit goods, it has been common practice to knit the various tubes separately and then join them together as by sewing. It can readily be appreciated that this type of a construction requires numerous operations in the manufacture of the tubular knit goods. Not only must the various tubular sections be separately knitted, but they must then be cut, fit together, and then secured as by sewing. From the standpoint of the wearer of the garment, such construction is not the most desirable due to the fact that the seams, where the cloth has been overlapped and sewn, may be bulky and uncomfortable as well as the fact that a seamless unitary garment is aesthetically more pleasing.

In the past, it has perhaps been theoretically possible to knit a unitary seamless bifurcated garment on a raschel warp knitting machine; however, due to the extreme length of a repeat, the length of the required pattern chain becomes improbably, if not impossibly, large. For example, to knit panty hose toe to toe as disclosed in detail below, would required about 8,000 pattern chain links for each guide bar. Assuming that 14 guide bars were used, the chain length would be about an eighth of a mile, it would weigh in the range of five tons, and, at current market prices, would represent an investment of about $28,000 in the various chain links.

The above problem is even further compounded if it is desired to change the patterning between the several portions of a bifurcated garment. For example, in the case of panty hose, it has become fashionable to prepare the stocking portion in a fairly open fish-net pattern. However, a woman's vanit re uires that the seat portion be filled in and relatively opaque. Thus, if seamless unitary panty hose are to be successfully marketed, there must be some provision for changing the laid-in pattern at the seat from that of the leg portions.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide furcated tubular knit garments of a unitary seamless construction.

Another object of this invention is to provide furcated tubular garments of unitary construction in which the pattern varies from the body portion to the furcated portions of the garment.

A further object of this invention is to provide methods for knitting unitary seamless bifurcated tubular garments on raschel-type warp knitting machine.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide certain modification on raschel-type warp knitting machines that will enable the continuous production of unitary, bifurcated garments in which a different pattern is laid in the body portion of the garments than is laid in the furcated portion of the garments.

Briefly, these and other objects of this invention are achieved by utilizing a raschel-type warp knittingmachine in which the length of the pattern chain is kept well within manageable lengths by providing aseparate set of pattern chains for each repetitive function. Alternatively, in another modification of this invention, the limitations imposed by the pattern chain can completely be avoided by providing electrical inputs from a punched or magnetic tape, a computer, or the like, that are effective to position each of the guide bars by an electric motor such as a solenoid, servo, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a sketch illustrating a continuous length of panty hose knit in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing showing certain details of a portion of the panty hose shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating the control of the guide bars from a single set of pattern chains mounted on a fixed slider box located on one side of the machine and the control of other guide bars through the alternate use of two sets of pattern chains mounted on a movable slider box located on the other side of the machine. 7

In FIG. 1 there is shown a bifurcated garment in the form of panty hose knitted continuously in accordance with the method of this invention. As shown in FIG. I, the bifurcated garment is comprised of body portions 1 l and furcations or leg portions 12. After a continuous length of material has been knit head to head and toe to toe, it is cut into individual units as by dividing the body portions along line 13 and the leg portions along line 14.

As can best be seen in FIG. 2, the garment is comprised of a number of threads 16 that are knitted into an open fish-net pattern. It is to be understood, of course, that there is nothing critical to the selection of a fish-net pattern, but it could just as well be any other moderately open pattern. To break the monotony of the open fish-net pattern in the leg portion 12, some of the open areas 17 are filled by laying in yarn as at 18. In the body portion 11 of the garment, all of these areas 17 are filled with patterned material so that the body portion 11 will be made substantially opaque by the laid-in yarn 18.

The knitting of the garment shown in FIG. 1 is made possible by using three separate sets of pattern chains. The first set of pattern chains is designed to operate the guide bars required for knitting the body or background of the cloth and its outside selvedges. The second and third sets of pattern chains are designed to control the action of both the guide bars that lay in the pattern yarn and the guide bars that knit the inside selvedges, the crotch and the center area of the seat.

Two separate sets of pattern chains were constructed to control the guide bars that lay in the pattern yarn and knit the inside selvedge. One of these sets of chains is operative during the knitting of the leg portion of the garment, and the other set of these chains is effective to control the movement of the appropriate guide bars during the time that the body or seat portion of the garment is being formed.

From the above, it can be understood that comparatively simple chains may be used to program the knitting of unitary furcated garments of this type since each of the basic repeat patterns, that is, the background design, the controlled knitting of the inside selvedge, including joining of the body portion, and the laying in of the pattern yarn, are all relatively simple repeats, provided only that the function of knitting the inside selvedge and of laying in the filling must be changed when knitting the furcated portion as contrasted with when knitting the body portion of the garment.

In a similar manner, it can easily be understood that seamless unitary trifurcated garments such as shirts and sweaters can be continuously knit. In this instance, as above, one set of chains is assembled to control the guide bars knitting the background or body cloth and the outside selvedges. A second set of pattern chains is assembled to control those guidebars that knit the four inside selvedges of the three tubes, and a third set of pattern chains is assembled to knit the three tubular portions into a single tubular body portion. Also, if desired, the second and third sets of pattern chains may contain chain links to control the operation of guide bars that lay in pattern yarn. If it is desired to change the pattern of the laid-in yarn from the furcated portions to the body portions, such chain linkages would be associated with the sets of chains driving the inside selvedge guide bars. If, on the other hand, the background pattern is to remain uniform throughout the structure, these chain links can be associated with the set of pattern chains that control the guide bars that form the background design.

By way of example of a raschel knitting machine that is suitable for performing the above-described knitting procedures, reference may be made to a double needle bar raschel knitting machine sold by the Cocker Machine & Foundry Company under the trade name Fashion Master." This machine is capable of handling three or more sets of pattern chains. The first set of pattern chains that controls the knitting of the background is mounted on a fixed slider box located on one side of the machine. The remaining sets of chains that control variable functions such as the laid-in pattern and the inside selvedges, are mounted on a movable slider box on the opposite side of the machine. Accordingly, when knitting panty hose as above described, the set of pattern chains that controls the knitting of the body cloth will be located on the fixed slider box and the two sets of pattern chains that control the knitting of the inside selvedges and the laying of pattern yarn will be located on the movable slider box. In operation, the body cloth will be continuously knit by the simple repeat of the first set of pattern chains, but control of the inside selvedge and pattern guide bars will change from the body portion to the furcated portion when the movable slider box shifts into a different position to permit the cam followers of the associated guide bars to be actuated by a different set of pattern chains.

In the foregoing description of this invention, reference has been made to the sets of pattern chains. It should be understood that each set does not necessarily require the fabrication of a separate and distinct chain since two or more sets" of pattern chains can be incorporated into a single chain. By way of illustration, the Cocker machine discussed above utilizes a single chain on its movable slider box. However, this chain is comprised of two different sets of linkages that travel together as a single unit. When the slider box shifts, the cam followers of the guide bars are brought in contact with a different one of the two sets of chains on the single chain mounted on the movable slider box. It can be understood that, if desired, additional sets of pattern chains could be incorporated into the single chain mounted on the movable slider box.

Advantageously, as when knitting leg portions of panty hose, some degree of fashioning can be accomplished by controlling the stitch quality, that is, by tightening or loosening the stitch. This can be done by adjusting the take down pressure through a variable speed motor controlled'by a fixed program.

Reference previously has been made to the fact that, in one embodiment of this invention, the pattern chains may be completely replaced by electrical devices that will position the individual guide bars. Since the input to the electrical driven guide bars may come from a variety of sources such as punched tape, magnetic tape, or the output of a computer, the operation of the knitting machine is completely freed from the limitations imposed by the use of pattern chains. A more complete description of such electrical means may be found in co-pending application Ser. No. 674,334 filed Oct. 10, 1967, and owned by a common assignee. In the instance where the knitting machine is computercontrolled, it is particularly advantageous to use such control to adjust the speed of the motor that adjusts the take-down pressure so that greater flexibility can be obtained in the fashioning of a garment.

From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that furcated seamless tubular knitted garments can be continuously produced. on knitting machines. In the case of bifurcated garments, such items of wear as panty hose, tights, stretch pants, trousers and the like, can be knit. Trifurcated garments such as shirts, sweaters, swim suits, dresses, and blouses can easily be knit, and even the knitting of poly-furcated garments such as mittens and gloves is made possible.

The invention can better be understood with respect to FIG. 3 in which control of the guide bars by three sets of chains to knit panty hose is illustrated. In this figure, l4-guide bars are illustrated, 21 through 34. Eight of these guide bars, 22, 23, 24, 25, 30, 31, 32 and 33, are driven from the right hand side of the machine. Shaft 35 is rotatably mounted in a fixed slider box (not shown) and is adapted to move eight pattern chains, individual links of which, 22 1, 23 1, 24 1, 25 l, 30 l, 31 l, 32 1 and 33 1, illustrated in functional engagement with cams 22c, 23c, 24c, 25c, 30c, 31c, 32c, and 33c respectively. By rotation of the shaft 35, various links 1 are brought into contact with the cams, controlling the reciprocation of the guide bars associated therewith. The pattern chains that rotate with shaft 35 have a constant repeat pattern for knitting the basic pattern of the goods that is common both to the legs and body portions of the panty hose. During the entire sequence of operation, the'guide bars 22 and 23 will control the knitting of the front of the legs and the front body portion of the garment. Similarly, guide bars 32 and 33 knit the back of the legs and the back body portion. Guide bars 24 and 30 knit the right outside selvedge and guide bars 25 and 31 will knit the left outside selvedge.

When the furcated portion of the garment is being knit, guide bars 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 34 will be controlled by their associated cams through rotation of the links of the pattern chains 21 1(A), 26 l (A), 27

l (A), 28 1 (A), 29 l (A) and 34 1 (A) respectively. The pattern chains and their respective links 1 are caused to rotate by shaft 36 that is mounted for rotation in a movable slider box (not shown). In this arrangement, when the legs of the garment are being knit, guide bars 26 and 28 control the knitting of the right inside selvedge and guide bars 27 and 29 control the knitting of the left inside selvedge. Knitting of the pattern in the front leg portion is controlled by guide bar 21 and knitting of the pattern in the back leg portion is controlled by guide bar 34.

When the furcated portions of the garment have been knit and it is desired to knit the body portion, the movable slider box is shifted to shaft 36 to move axially, in the direction shownby the arrowhead B. At this time, different pattern chains become effective to control the movement of guide bars 21, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 34 and these guide bars 26, 27, 28 and 29 discontinue knitting the inside selvedges of the leg portions and begin knitting the crotch and the body portion of the panty hose. Simultaneously, the functions of guide bars 21 and 34 also shift so that their function changes from laying in a pattern in the leg portions to that of filling in the body portion to make a comparatively opaque body portion as compared to the open or fish-net structure of the leg portion.

It is important to note that in the apparatus of this invention, it is necessary that a minimum of eight guide bars be driven from the stationary slider box and a minimum of six guide bars be driven from the movable slider box. In this manner, a continuous repeat pattern can be utilized to knit the leg and body portions by the eight guide bars driven from the stationary slider box and the variable functions of (l) patterning the legs and filling the body and (2) knitting inside selvedges and knitting a single tubular body portion, can be controlled from the movable slider box that shifts to selectively bring different patterning chains into operation.

In the above description of this invention, reference was made to the Fashion Master knitting machine sold by Cooker Machine and Foundry Company that is adaptable for use in this invention. As noted, this machine is capable of handling three or more sets of pattern chains and has one set of pattern chains mounted on a fixed slider box and two pattern chains located on a movable slider box. However, this machine has provision only for four guide bars to be driven from the mov-i ing the single tubular body portion, it does not provide any method whereby. the patterning of the garment can be changed, as by guide bars 21 and 34, to knit a pattern in the leg portions and then shift to knit a continuous filler pattern in the body portion. Thus, in distinction to devices shown in the prior .art, the instant invention provides a minimum of six guide bars driven from the variable or movable slider box of the knitting machine.

Although certain embodiments of this invention have been shown in the drawings and described in the specification, it is to be understood that the' invention is not limited thereto, is capable of modification, and can be rearranged without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A method for knitting unitary seamless furcated garments on a raschel-type warp knitting machine comprising the steps of:

preparing a separate set of pattern chains for each major repetitive knitting function;

locating on a fixed slider box a first set of pattern chains that control the operation of a first group of guide bars that knit the background fabric-and the outside selvedges; locating on a movable slider box having a first and secondoperating position, a second, third, fourth and fifth set of pattern chains that control the operation of a second and third group of guide bars,

the second set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the second group of guide bars, to knit the inside selvedges of the furcations, the third set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the second group of guide bars, to knit the background fabric into a unitary tubular structure,

the fourth set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the third group of guide bars, to knit background pattern in the furcations, and

the fifth set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the third set of guide bars, to knit a background pattern different from the background pattern of the furcations, in the body portion of the garment;

positioning the movable slider box in the first position and knitting the furcated portion of the garment; and

shifting the movable slider box into the second position and knitting the body portion of the garment; whereby a unitary seamless furcated garment is prepared having a different pattern in the furcated portion than in the body portion. 

1. A method for knitting unitary seamless furcated garments on a raschel-type warp knitting machine comprising the steps of: preparing a separate set of pattern chains for each major repetitive knitting function; locating on a fixed slider bOx a first set of pattern chains that control the operation of a first group of guide bars that knit the background fabric and the outside selvedges; locating on a movable slider box having a first and second operating position, a second, third, fourth and fifth set of pattern chains that control the operation of a second and third group of guide bars, the second set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the second group of guide bars, to knit the inside selvedges of the furcations, the third set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the second group of guide bars, to knit the background fabric into a unitary tubular structure, the fourth set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the third group of guide bars, to knit background pattern in the furcations, and the fifth set of pattern chains being effective, when engaged with the third set of guide bars, to knit a background pattern different from the background pattern of the furcations, in the body portion of the garment; positioning the movable slider box in the first position and knitting the furcated portion of the garment; and shifting the movable slider box into the second position and knitting the body portion of the garment; whereby a unitary seamless furcated garment is prepared having a different pattern in the furcated portion than in the body portion. 